Deneb was founded by colonists from Castor in the early decades of the Homeland Fellowship’s presence on that world. Schism within the Order of Peers, one of the knightly orders, over membership criteria threatened to disrupt the peace on Castor. Powerful traditionalists within the Order of Peers objected to membership being opened to those not descended from the Homeland Fellowship’s first families. Rather than risk conflict within the Order, the traditionalists were granted a charter to colonize Deneb, a frigid world locked in an endless ice age. The result was a military dictatorship wherein positions of power and influence were reserved for first family aristocracy. The Order established family domains near Deneb’s equator where they could exploit the planet’s limited resources of arable land and liquid water (and within the habitable zone that Deneb’s dangerous species live, such as the Denebian ripper).

As the decades passed, factionalism among the traditionalists increased. The consequent civil war wreaked havoc on the family domains’ resources. Deneb is not a world that easily facilitates stockpiling surpluses of food and other materials. The need for imported resources led to intense bidding among the families with mercantile powers that had the contacts and means to fill the wartime needs in exchange for access to Deneb’s rich heavy metal resources. Collusion among these mercantile powers gradually shifted the balance of power on Deneb until the Order was all but ousted.

Whether the Order could’ve recovered political power was a question left unanswered by the arrival of the dragons. Deneb fared better than many other worlds during the Rage. Much of Deneb’s infrastructure was deep underground to be insulated from the world’s crippling cold. The long isolation after the Age of Fire proved more disastrous. Much of Deneb’s population died from hunger and disease. Isolated pockets survived and remained civilized. Other communities fractured, and the people moved deeper underground. These cave-dwellers descended deeper into madness and depravity during with each successive generation.

As Tiamat consolidated her control over the sector and order was restored, materials were needed for reconstruction and industry. Deneb became a valuable resource again. Four corporations received charters to restructure Deneb: Daybreak Organization, a major player in fuel refining; Terra Prime Ring, the sector’s heavyweight in planetary mining; the Imani Company, a cutting-edge metallurgical business; and Outertech Syndicate, the Empire’s foremost producer of heavy weaponry. Providing security for all four is Magnus Union, a security corporation whose name has become synonymous with ruthlessness.

Remnants of the Order found themselves cast as figureheads in the corporate feudalism established on Deneb under these imperial charters. Aristocrats who can trace their lineage back centuries now act as company subsidiary executives responsible for fulfilling work quotas established by corporate headquarters. Standing on top of the feudal pyramid is the feared Magnus Union.

At present, most members of the Order believe their place in the planetary pecking-order is justified. The Order’s aristocracy has resurrected its ancient forms of dress, and they present a bizarre spectacle as they obsequiously demand respect and honor for the old forms and pomp. When not engaged in the business of filling imperial demands, the aristocracy participate in ceremonies, tournaments, banquets, et cetera, almost entirely conducted in Latin.

Deneb’s highly restrictive laws, culture of corporate paranoia, and the ongoing subjugation of the Order make most Denebians cruel and envious. The pain and suffering of others is a source of amusement, and public humiliation and a lack of gentility are main features of Denebian entertainment. Those perceived to accumulate wealth or power too easily become targets. Scandals, real or fabricated, occur frequently, and they have become a common method of advancement in business and social circles.

Deneb also has a sizeable population of outcasts, most being the descendants of cave-dwellers. Called krimas, these outcasts are almost invariably dangerous. Many have developed bizarre hereditary deformities that warp both body and mind. In the deeper caverns, the krimas barely qualify as human, but instead have mutated into sightless, savage cannibals.